Reliance Industries gets US licence to directly buy Venezuela crude oil

India's largest private refiner gets US general licence to purchase Venezuelan crude directly, potentially diversifying its crude slate and resuming imports after previous sanctions eased

Private-sector oil refiner Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) last week received a general licence from the United States (US) government to buy Venezuelan oil, an industry executive told Business Standard.

 

RIL operates the Jamnagar complex in Gujarat — the world’s largest and most complex single-site refinery — which is capable of processing diverse and crude heavy oil.

 

An email sent to RIL seeking comment remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

 

US President Donald Trump, after capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month, said American oil companies would “rebuild the oil infrastructure” of the South American nation. Prior to Maduro’s capture, China and the US were the largest buyers of Venezuelan oil.

 

 

Global trading houses, Vitol and Trafigura, became the first ones to obtain US licences to load and export Venezuelan oil. Meanwhile, global refiners are eyeing Venezuelan crude after the US government eased sanctions on the country. Before the US had imposed sanctions on Caracas in 2019, RIL and Russia-backed Nayara Energy were the top Indian buyers of Venezuelan crude.

 

Venezuela produces only about 0.8 per cent of the global crude output, despite holding 18 per cent of the world’s oil reserves — this reflects years of underinvestment and infrastructure constraints.

 

Indian refiners are seeking steep discounts on Venezuelan oil as its highly viscous and acidic nature makes it difficult to process. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is looking at $10-12 per barrel discounts on Venezuelan oil, as reported earlier.

 

Indian state-run refiners have historically not processed Venezuelan crude, with only limited volumes supplied to Indian Oil Corporation. However, with upgrades that have enhanced refineries’ complexity, oil-marketing companies including Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and BPCL have now become capable of processing heavy Venezuelan crude.

 

BPCL could process Venezuelan crude at its Kochi refinery in Kerala and Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh, while HPCL could refine the heavy crude at its Visakhapatnam refinery in Andhra Pradesh and the upcoming refinery in Rajasthan’s Barmer. Indian Oil has historically processed Venezuelan oil at its Panipat refinery.